Clothes drier



D. R. COWPER Sept. 1, 1964 CLOTHES DRIER Filed May 14, 1962 Inventor United States Patent "ice 3,146,890 CLOTHES DRIER David R. Cowper, 1030Derby St., Apt. 17, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Filed May 14, 1962, Ser. No. 194,429 2 Claims. (Cl. 21186) This invention relates to a portable and collapsible clothes drier.

In cities and suburbs the trend in household accommodation is apartments, and while this may be suitable, it also has the drawback of limitation of living space.

Many prefer to do their laundering of lingerie, babys and childrens clothes at home, and in apartments the problem of drying space is acute and definite.

It is known that clothes driers of the lazy-tong or expansible type have been and are used, and these appliances are frequently stood or positioned in a bathtub, and the articles of wash are suspended from these clothes driers. There are however certain drawbacks, such as when lazytong drier or clothes horse is collapsed or folded, it occupies quite a large space, and in consequence is difiicult to store in the ordinary broom closet or other similar storage accommodation.

I have come to the conclusion that a collapsible clothes drier is a necessity in apartments, and I have consequently developed, or invented, a portable and collapsible clothes drier which can be readily set up and placed between the back wall of a bathroom and the shower curtain rod of a bath.

This arrangement gives adequate head room to permit currents of air to ascend through the articles of wash, and moreover the drip water from these articles of wash falls into the bathtub and is consequently drained away.

Moreover, my clothes drier is simple, durable, eflicient and of low cost production and consists of two rigid spaced side members which are connected by transverse or reach members on which the clothes to be dried are suspended, and when the clothes drier is not in use the two rigid side members are placed side by side and the flexible clothes members wound therearound so that the clothes drier will occupy a minimum of space and may be stored on a shelf or in a broom closet or other convenient place.

So that the nature of my invention will be clearly understood I have illustrated an embodiment thereof which I shall describe in detail, but I wish it to be understood that I do not limit my invention to this particular form of clothes drier, but reserve the right to modify its structure within the scope of my appended claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a bathtub with my clothes drier operatively mounted on the shower curtain rod and the wall or the bathroom; and

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of a rigid side member of my clothes drier.

Like characters of reference refer to like parts in the several figures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, A represents my clothes drier, B a portion of a bathtub, and C a portion of the shower curtain rod. The clothes drier A comprises two similar side members 11, each formed of suitable material such as a metallic rod or tube of aluminum or light metallic alloy.

On one end of each side member or tube 11, I provide a resilient or rubber tip 12 in the form of a socket which slips over and fi'ictionally engages the end or the member or tube 11, and this socket when in engagement with a bathroom wall will not scratch or deface the wall.

On the other end of each side member or tube 11, I provide a hook in the form of a gripping jaw 14, formed 3,146,890 Patented Sept. 1, 1964 by flattening the end of the tube 11 and then bending the widened and flattened portion into a gooseneck which constitutes the jaw 14 and straddles the shower curtain rod B.

Each rigid side member 11 is provided with a plurality of spaced orifices 15 and flexible reach members 16, such as cords of synthetic cord-like material bridge the space between the two side members 11, and the ends of these reach members are laced through the orifices 15 and suitably secured as by knotting, tieing or the like.

When the clothes drier is being used the side members 11 are arranged in parallel spaced relation, with the gooseneck hooks or gripping jaws 14 straddling the shower curtain rod C, and the rubber tips 12 on the other ends of the side members 11 resting against the bathroom wall with the members 11 supported in angular relation inclined upwards from the rod C to the wall. In this position the flexible reach members 16 may be taut or may hang in arcuate form to receive the articles of wash to be dried.

In use the side members 11 will not be displaced by creeping along the curtain rod C under the load of laundry on the flexible cords, as the resilient sockets in engagement with the wall will resist such a movement and any tendency of the side members 11 to twist from right angle position on the curtain rod C will cause the flat, widened gooseneck jaws to tightly bind on or grip the curtain rod C, so eliminating all possibility of unwanted movement of the side members 11 toward each other along the curtain rod.

The side members 11 can be readily unhooked from the curtain rod C, but obviously any such removal must be intentional and deliberate.

While I have described my invention as being used on a shower curtain rod, it will be understood that it may be used to advantage with any other suitable support.

From this description it will be clear that I have invented a portable, collapsible clothes drier which can be readily set up for use and can be quickly detached when not in use and rolled into a compact bundle capable of being conveniently stored in a suitable place. This device is strong and durable with few parts capable of going out of use, so that the device will normally have a long life when used with care.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A collapsible and portable clothes drier supportable between a back wall of a bathroom and shower curtain rod of a bath, comprising a pair of similar rod members normally arranged in inclined and spaced parallel relation, a rubber tip fitting one end of each of the said rods, the other end of each of the said rods having a relatively wide and flat terminal portion in the form of a gooseneck jaw to straddle and grip on the shower curtain rod, flexible reach members to receive articles of wash bridging the space between the two last said rods when in use; the wide flat gooseneck jaws on the ends of the spaced rods that straddle and grip on the shower curtain rod re sisting any tendency of such spaced rods to twist from right angle position on the shower curtain rod and acting to bind tightly on and grip the shower curtain rod and so prevent any unauthorized displacement or creeping of the spaced parallel rods along the curtian rod under the load of wash articles suspended from said flexible reach members; the drier when not in use being arrangable with the two last said rods lying in close proximity and wrapped around with the flexible members to form a compact bundle for storage.

2. A collapsible and portable clothes drier supportable between a back wall of a bathroom and shower curtain rod of a bath, comprising a pair of tubular members normally arranged in inclined and spaced parallel relation,

a resilient socket frictionally engaging one end of each tube member, the other end of each tube member having a flat and Wide terminal portion, with the flat portion in the form of agooseneck jaw to straddle the shower curtain rod, each tube being provided with a plurality 5 of spaced orifices, flexible reach members between the two parallel spaced tubes and laced through the orifices and secured by knotting, the wide fiat gooseneck jaws on the ends of the spaced rods that straddle and grip on the shower curtain rod resisting any tendency of such spaced rods to twist from right angle position on the shower curtain rod and acting to bind tightly on and grip the shower curtain rod and so prevent any unauthorized displacement or creeping of the spaced parallel rods along the curtain rod under the load of wash articles suspended 15 from said flexible reach members, said drier being arranged when not in use with the two tubes lying in close proximity and wrapped with the flexible members to form a compact bundle for storage.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 832,625 Ryan Oct. 9, 1906 10 2,639,816 Fogg May 26, 1953 2,981,418 Bradley Apr. 25, 1961 3,025,969 Daley Mar. 20, 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS 286,084 Switzerland Oct. 15, 1952 

1. A COLLAPSIBLE AND PORTABLE CLOTHES DRIER SUPPORTABLE BETWEEN A BACK WALL OF A BATHROOM AND SHOWER CURTAIN ROD OF A BATH, COMPRISING A PAIR OF SIMILAR ROD MEMBERS NORMALLY ARRANGED IN INCLINED AND SPACED PARALLEL RELATION, A RUBBER TIP FITTING ONE END OF EACH OF THE SAID RODS, THE OTHER END OF EACH OF THE SAID RODS HAVING A RELATIVELY WIDE AND FLAT TERMINAL PORTION IN THE FORM OF A GOOSENECK JAW TO STRADDLE AND GRIP ON THE SHOWER CURTAIN ROD, FLEXIBLE REACH MEMBERS TO RECEIVE ARTICLES OF WASH BRIDGING THE SPACE BETWEEN THE TWO LAST SAID RODS WHEN IN USE; THE WIDE FLAT GOOSENECK JAWS ON THE ENDS OF THE SPACED RODS THAT STRADDLE AND GRIP ON THE SHOWER CURTAIN ROD RESISTING ANY TENDENCY OF SUCH SPACED RODS TO TWIST FROM RIGHT ANGLE POSITION ON THE SHOWER CURTAIN ROD AND ACTING TO BIND TIGHTLY ON AND GRIP THE SHOWER CURTAIN ROD AND SO PREVENT ANY UNAUTHORIZED DISPLACEMENT OR CREEPING OF THE SPACED PARALLEL RODS ALONG THE CURTAIN ROD UNDER THE LOAD OF WASH ARTICLES SUSPENDED FROM SAID FLEXIBLE REACH MEMBERS; THE DRIER WHEN NOT IN USE BEING ARRANGABLE WITH THE TWO LAST SAID RODS LYING IN CLOSE PROXIMITY AND WRAPPED AROUND WITH THE FLEXIBLE MEMBERS TO FORM A COMPACT BUNDLE FOR STORAGE. 